Auditing Failure: Moral competence and school effectiveness

Abstract

This article addresses school effectiveness and school improvement, as they have been interpreted through UK central and local government policy. It focuses, in particular, on recent forms of inspection and the impact they have had on schools and other educational bodies. It draws on Power's conceptualisation of the Audit Society, to understand the appeal of this form of research to politicians and administrators. Reflecting on a number of perspectives on failure, including official views and those from schools and local authorities that have been designated as 'failing', the argument is made that the creation of the two polar opposites--good/effective and failing/ineffective--has exacerbated rather than diminished differences between the two. If concepts of audit are to continue, such as those employed to rate whether schools are successful or not, an ethical framework is needed which is better able to encourage and support the teachers, parents, governors and students involved.